The 36-year-old father of two who was found with an explosive device in the trunk of his car last January was going to be paid to blow up a Quebec home, Crown prosecutor Robert Wadden told the court Thursday.
After the statement of facts was presented, Chad Baillargeon was sentenced to four years in prison following a police traffic stop on Jan. 4, 2011 while he was driving with his headlights off on Third Avenue in the Glebe.
When police pulled him over he asked police to go into his trunk to get his identification from a bag. Officers found a green toolbox, an alarm clock with wires sticking out of it, an electronic detonator, and a plastic bag containing two 9-volt batteries.
When police questioned Baillargeon about the bomb components, he responded, “It is rocket propellant, and you know that it’s not hooked up so it is what is it is, it would take care of 3,000 square feet,” the statement read.
A chemical analysis determined the device contained ammonium nitrate—a component for explosives—but was missing either gasoline or diesel, which would have been essential for detonation.
At the time, he was under a weapons prohibition for a previous conviction so he is also guilty of a breach of that order. Since he already spent one year in custody after his arrest last January, he will serve three years and is prohibited from possessing weapons for the rest of his life.
Baillargeon had pleaded guilty to the charges in court on Tuesday.
In an interview with police, Baillargeon said he was fully aware of how to trigger the bomb. While Baillargeon was stopped in Ottawa, he is from the Kitchener area and the bomb itself was not purchased in Ottawa.
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